1984 1.6 GL

There will be more photographs in a week or so when I collect the car, but in the meantime the above will have to do you.  I've been after a sensible daily driver to replace my terminally rotten BX estate and after running through quite a few sensible cars, viewing all sorts of things from the reasonable to the absurd this little Mk1 Golf popped up locally at a price I couldn't refuse.

Initially, my stipulation was that the replacement car be built between 1980 and 2000, a hatchback or estate, preferably diesel and have tax and test no matter how short and definitely not a soft top.  What I've ended up with is pretty much none of those things at all, seems to be the way I do things since the rotten BX replaced an utterly dependable but spine twistingly uncomfortable (to me at least) Maestro.

So why go for it at all?  Good question really.  I always try and buy with my head but something always goes wrong which is why I've been doodling about in an Austin Princess as my daily for the past few months, eating up the miles in supreme comfort.  The answer to the question is my brother, who has this uncanny ability to make me see cars I'd otherwise dismissed in an entirely new way.  In this instance, he told me of a tatty Mk1 Golf cabrio with no T&T for peanuts about 5 minutes drive from home.  He didn't hype it up, didn't make any effort to make me buy it until he said "I'd have it myself, but we're moving house so I can't afford to." which meant I had to at least have a look.  The biggest thing putting me off is how hatefully dull, wheezy and uninspiring every Mk2 Golf I've ever driven has been, this would be my first foray into Mk1 Golfs.

First impressions weren't great, in all honesty.  I think the car could be best described as 'lightly barried' with an admittedly nice shade of blue for the respray but horrible cheap looking wheels and an interior that's a sea of blackness  that is just oppressive to be in.  The vinyl roof is tatty in the usual places but at this price I'd budgeted a replacement roof at any rate so this was no surprise.  On closer inspection there's no sign of rot or excessive filler or bodges beyond a couple of minor rust blemishes on a rear arch as is to be expected.  Having had a good read through on the forum here I had a rough idea of what to look for and filled the gaps with my experience of owning a Mk2 Polo which seems quite similar in construction and interior.  It looks solid in all the right places, in fact it looks solid pretty much everywhere as is to be expected with a VW of this era.  The roof, while it does look rough, doesn't seem to leak as it was dry inside after the rain and there was no smell of dampness of mould in the car.  I do anticipate the roof might leak the odd drop but a replacement cover isn't terribly expensive in mohair or vinyl.

I went away to think about it, and on the second visit determined that if it would run after being laid up for 2 years outdoors that I might part with some cash.  A fresh battery, a drop or three of fuel and a car that hadn't been touched for two years fired up straight away.  Had I not owned an old Polo that cold pull the same stunt I would have been surprised, instead I was encouraged that mechanically it was likely going to be okay.  Yes, there was a puff of smoke (which the seller had described as being much worse than it was) from the exhaust initially but this cleared very quickly and all sounded pretty good, probably just needs stem seals doing which my brother and I can do.

So a week on Tuesday, all being well, "Atom" as the previous owner and my brother have come to call the car will be heading home so I can get to grips with the few jobs it'll need.  I predict new front discs, tyres all round, fresh fluids and stem seals for the MoT and… that's probably it.  Maybe some bulbs.  I'm optimistic about this one, it seems like a pretty good car.  It'll also get a bloody good clean because I can't abide dirty interiors.

I'll update as and when we progress, there's bound to be some surprises with a car like this but it'll be great to have a back-up for the Princess and my brother's Rover.

Nice project matey. Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to updates.  

Can't wait to get stuck in on it really, just a shame I can't go and get it right now this minute.  I love getting stuck into a new project.  If I'd had the Golf I could've got into a smaller parking space and not collected a parking ticket today, how annoying!

D'oh !!!    

I didn't want that money anyway, cluttering up my wallet, making the moths feel all claustrophobic.

Volksangyl said

I didn't want that money anyway, cluttering up my wallet, making the moths feel all claustrophobic.

        If you're ever in the position again send some my way mate

Get and get it sorted and welcome

Picked up a new (second hand from the scrapyard) battery and I've got some fuel in a jerry can ready for next Tuesday.  I've also been on eBay looking at all the things I probably don't need so in my head the planning has already begun.  I'm more excited than nervous about this one, rot would be my biggest worry but the key areas all appear to be solid so it might just be down to engine fettling and a bit of cosmetic work.  Very tempted to get a cream roof for it rather than the usual black but you can bet that'll cost more.  I also really fancy a square light grille… this is the trouble with VWs, parts availability is so good and changes are so easy to make due to parts bin shenanigans that it's difficult not to modify and personalise in some way.

I'm not going to bother setting up a new thread because I doubt it would be of interest here, but here's a picture of my daily.  Had this one since February 2012, working through the mechanical problems and making a start on bodywork now.  Eventually, she'll be Aconite (a very 70s shade of purple) with a Champagne Beige (a very 80s shade of beige) roof and Lotus alloys I've got in storage.  It is the most comfortable car I've ever experienced and I won't part with her unless I absolutely have to, love her to bits, even though she's not exactly a looker.  This is her good side >.>

While I'm at it, I'm sticking this picture in here as a reminder for the colour combo I fancy.  Atom was originally graphite rather than blue.  Probably do some things differently, but the roof is nice with the graphite.

Lovely cabby but not sure about the retro badge on the back    

I'm thinking returning to the graphite paint, cream roof and cream or grey interior depending which I can find or prefer in person.  Original badges on the back, original lights and original bumpers rather than chromes or bodycoloured ones.

Wheels will probably be some 13" or 14" VW jobbies and I don't want the exhaust to be so shouty visually or aurally.  Probably won't refit the arch plastics in part because the car hasn't got any, but also because of the rust they cause and the fact I'm not a huge fan of them.

So… maybe it won't be a proper restoration, it'll just be a GL-ish when I'm done.  Why isn't it next Tuesday yet?

Dropped by to finalise collecting the Golf today and got a little bit of a surprise.  The chap I'm buying from had the misfortune to have 13 wheels stolen including the alloys on my Golf! Now I know I said I didn't like the alloys, but it's a bit off someone stealing them.  Seems that locally there might be someone stealing VW alloys as my brother had a set of partially refurbished - satin black with polished rims, were looking great - stolen from his car along with a multi-fit wheel brace spider.

Thankfully, the seller is a top bloke and he took the set of steels off the estate they had which had really good tyres on and fitted those in place of the alloys for me.  I'm regarding this as a good thing because I've now got MoT legal tyres, though I am worried about how close to the arches they sit, the car has definitely had a suspension tweak by the looks of things.


Bit of elbow grease and fresh silver paint should see those steels looking really smart.  They're not G60s, they're just normal Golf steels, I'm told the difference is the number of holes - 10 on standards, 12 on G60s - and possibly a difference in width.  Don't especially want to roll the arches, so if I can get a swap for some lower profile rubber I'll likely do that instead, I'll have a word with the part worn place that sorted out the Princess with reasonable tyres, they're good with older tin.

The other thing the owner had done was to refit the entire interior we were swapping.  We did tell him to just bolt a driver's seat in and my brother and I would worry about fitting the rest but the guy only went and refitted everything, the only exception being the speaker pod on the driver's door which I think he said had a broken clip or something.  Easy enough to sort at any rate and although this is a TERRIBLE picture, it does show you what interior I've got now.  This was a last minute snapshot because I'd forgotten to take a picture to illustrate, I'll get better shots tomorrow.


Had another look at the arches and it looks like it's probably on the original rear arches which are just starting to go so it'll need those doing.  There's some minor surface rust on the return lip of the front arches too, but that's to be expected.  The sills look in really good shape.

Plan is to get it back here tomorrow afternoon and give it a really good deep clean to make it look its best while also being a great opportunity to investigate all the things that are working and aren't.  Once we're happy it's running healthy and hasn't got any structural issues we'll book it in for an MoT at an old car friendly place my brother and I pretty much always use and go from there.  There's got to be a catch to all this somewhere, I'm sure of it.

Looking good buddy.    

I've assumed the houndstooth interior is standard GL fare, am I correct?  I'm hoping it is as that'd be right for the car and I really like it.

Turns out the wheels and tyres are not a problem after all, I think it was where it was parked that was giving me the fear but now I've had chance to look at it properly, the wheel-tyre combo is actually spot on.  Rears could do with spacing a little, ideally, to match the fronts a bit better… on with the update, it's gonna take a bit of posting this.

Today, my brother, Dad and I went to collect the Golf.  We met up with the vendor and he was superbly helpful with getting the roof down which he'd already applied penetrating oil to the hinges and pivots of.  He'd also replaced a brake line - I checked, he has, he's also freshly waxoyled the floor pan - since one had got damaged when the alloys were nicked.  We all set off back and apart from a little hiccup when Dad's unplanned route change saw the Golf panic and put all its brakes on without any drama, we got back safe and sound to the drive of much chod.

Before any cleaning or anything was done it was picture time.  Look at the state of this, just superb.


Who needs rear visibility anyway?


Tis a bit mucky, but then it's spent 3 years outside near a workshop.


You could scrape the black paint off the bumper with your thumbnail so I'm going to take a green scourer and hot water to them to persuade them to go back to grey.


The paint has a few areas in need of attention, I'm really divided on my approach to the paint as I love the blue respray colour more than the original VW hue.


Above one of the roof patches water has been running down this window for the past few years.  Terrible.


Roll bar isn't too shabby, I've certainly seen worse foams.


Bringing the car back with the roof down was a good idea, it's freshened up the interior somewhat with no effort involved.


Still got the golf ball, and I have a radio that'll drop into that hole nicely.  Not massively keen on the steering wheel, but it's difficult to find anything I like better.


Nobody in the club has owned up to being a previous owner yet.

Going to have to update in stages here, lots of pictures from today, we spent pretty much all day out tinkering and prodding and cleaning.

So, roof back up to show you just how bad it is.  I reckon this is the original roof fitted by Karmann 29 years ago, it doesn't look tampered with and while it's tired it does also mean it's complete including the padding and webbing straps that so often disappear when a new roof outer is fitted.


Faded, or just filthy?


Snug enough up front, it's not too horrible inside with the roof up thanks to the grey interior it now has.


One of several patches which, by the look of them, are made using parts of the old tonneau cover that's long gone.  Roof doesn't leak here until you open the door and it drips on the door bolster.  It also puts that stain down the passenger window.




Quite a long split in the rear corner here, but the patch is needlessly and comically oversized.  The patch also still has velcro on the back lending credence to it being ex-tonneau cover.


Scruffy.  This arch is starting to go on the rear trailing quarter, but it's not serious yet.  I'll get a repair panel for it.


So, One of my first jobs was to get scrubbing that vinyl to see just how watertight it was and what sort of condition it was in.  Used water and Autoglym shampoo with a plastic bristled floor scrubbing brush.  Brown-grey water came off in droves and the roof came back black very quickly.  After a go over the vinyl with Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner I ended up with something that look considerably more respectable if still tatty.  I was frankly astonished about this.

Both rear arches are a bit on the tatty side and will need repairing eventually but not yet, they'll be okay for MoT.


Greeen.


The chrome sill strips were kept back by the buyer and he was going to fit some black ones as a replacement but this had been forgotten.  I will pop in and find out if I can get a set off him, I don't mind if not in all honesty as I think it looks pretty smart without them.


Stripped out some of the interior and my suspicions of it being resprayed over the original colour were confirmed when I found that the back of certain items are dark brown, as are some of the deeper recesses.  I think I'll be sticking with a grey as my interior colour, but it gives me a quandary about the brown trim as that's not exactly common.


Fluffy black carpets were smelly and mossy and I think they're from a hatchback as they don't fit exactly right in the cabrio.


Greeen.


I haven't shampooed these, just vacuumed them to freshen them up and get the worst of the muck off so they can go back in


Took a snap of the shockingly sound floors hiding under the carpet and seats.  There's nothing to be done here at all as far as I can tell.


One small patch of bubbles under the rear seat bench of no concern that I might go back and patch one day, but it's solid enough for MoT.

So after assessing what was what it was on to some repairs.  The hood didn't fold properly, the brackets holding the rear screen frame were at least partially seized and we needed to find out why.  So very quickly out with the rear screen.


Plenty of little flakes of rust around the frame, but mostly okay.


Ah, that would be part of the problem.  That and a completely seized pivot on this hinge.  We've tried heat, hammers and tools to try and free it off so we're now trying to soak it in vinegar for a bit.  The screen frame will likely need to be replaced when I put the new hood on, but in the meantime it'll be fine.


Other side is crusty, but solid.


After refitting the rear window and checking it was leak free we checked that the roof could still be put up and down safely, which it can.  So that'll do for now and we know what needs fixing.  The next thing to investigate is why the bodywork didn't clean up after being cleaned.  Turns out everything has grey/white overspray on it.  This is the paint after a bit of T-Cut work.


Wing on the left, T-Cut'd bonnet on the right.


After some more T-Cut and then finer G3 compound we had it looking something like.  The colour is a superb sometimes-blue, sometimes-purple that looks amazing when it's cleaned up which is why I'm so torn about reverting to the original Graphite or keeping this resprayed colour.


Those leaks?  Mainly in two places.  One is because of the strange way the driver's door window sits and the other from the seal at the top of the A pillar, which means only the driver really gets wet.  I'm not sure what's causing both things.




Finally, we popped a front wheel off to find out what was going on with the brakes.  The caliper had become completely seized so after some jiggery pokery that was freed off.  Then… well then it was time to finish.

There are now known problems with the car, as follows:
> Only the speedo and the clock work in the dash.  Lights, temperature gauge, fuel gauge and rev counter all don't work, not sure why yet.
> Sticky brakes.  This is probably due to being laid up for 3 years outside.  The brake pedal doesn't always return.
> Idling issue when cold - could be an issue with the automatic choke, the carburettor or something else entirely.
> It's a Golf
> Looks like I'm missing some air ducting under the bonnet, but not sure what exactly.  Seem to not have an air filter.
> Spotlights aren't wired up properly
> Gear selection is sometimes good, sometimes very vague about what gear has been selected.  No crunching or sensations of a bad box so this might be down to lack of use.  I seem to recall the Polo gearbox improved drastically with use over a few hundred miles.
> Fan stays on for a long time.  This might be a dodgy plug, or the hot weather, or the engine temperature, or a combination of all three.
> Oil smoke out the exhaust.  Much reduced since collecting the car, but we suspect it's likely the valve stem seals.
> Roof needs attention.
> Bit of rear arch rust.
> Filthy.

So… I don't reckon that's too shabby really.

Today I did some more work on the Golf.  My brother tried to sort out the brakes and while two bled up and some air was expelled, the other two on the passenger side decided to snap one bleed nipple and round another off so that put an end to that job.  We've found that the pedal won't return unless you bypass the brake servo.  Bypassing the servo results in brakes that work but are worse than even the ones on a Mk2 Polo and certainly inadequate for hauling the Golf to a reasonable stop so we've only done that for driveway manoeuvres.  The idling issue is very, very likely the carb gasket at fault as it behaves precisely the same and has to be driven in exactly the same way as mine and countless other old Polos.  I keep referring back to the old Polo because it's surprisingly similar mechanically and even construction wise to the Golf, unsurprisingly really.

Gave up trying to sort anything else mechanical out for now, the bank is empty so it'll have to wait for a couple of weeks to organise.  It's not like there aren't other jobs to be fettling with in the meantime.  The passenger seat was refitted and after getting one of the rear seat base brackets bent back to the proper shape, the rear seat was refitted too.  The parcel shelf was persuaded to be a little more flat and dropped in and the interior is looking and feeling much better for it.  Didn't get as far as dismantling the dashboard but I have found that the fan has to be unplugged as it is permanently on even with the ignition off and a cold engine.

The car has some amusing little foibles, apart from the silly carbon fibre inserts in the window adjuster toggles, there's the amusing front speakers.  Perhaps the car the door cards came out of had spacers on the window winders or something, but in mine the winders don't clear the speakers so you can't use them.  One of the mirror toggles pinged off today too and went into the car but do you think I can find it at all?




Next up, get the bumpers off.  I managed to shear a bumper bolt, I didn't even know this was possible.  Water had been getting in through the rear light clusters which haven't been sealing properly and that has led to some rust on the rear bumper bolts but not enough to rust everything solid… or so I thought.


With the bumpers removed I could clean them and the valances up.  This is probably the worst bit of rot on the car, in the usual place, I was aware of it and undaunted by it.


Other side was packed with moss and feathers, so I guess it was a nest or something.


Anyway, front bumper off and washer jets removed gives us this.  You can see what colour it should be where the grey is, the black paint rubs off on your hands and sticks in little flakes to everything which is really annoying, should make them easier to clean up though.


Not the tidiest install, but you can't tell when it's all together.  I wonder if these arent' original but are fitted by a previous owner?  Either way, I'm keeping them, headlight washers aren't commonly fitted.


One bolt had stuck, but it later freed off.  Just have to rebuild things properly.  It explains why one washer/over rider was wonky at least.


And the jets themselves.  They're black rubber, but they've been painted with satin spray paint anyway which I'll have to carefully remove.


Front valance is really tidy apart from a bash in the bottom corner.  There's also a scuff on the bumper and a tiny scuff on the front wing to match.  Strangely, the inside of the bumper and the back of the front valance had loads of small gravel all over too so I'm not sure what's going on there.  It's only superficial damage, there's nothing serious going on here happily.




Grille off, cleaned down and looking very smart indeed.  I'm going to be parting with the spotlight grille in favour of a plain single headlight grille or better yet a single square light grille if I can find one at a time when I have money in my pocket.


Then it was time to make a start cleaning the sides down.  Removed the trims and found a lot of moss and dirt hiding just like there was in the door chromes too.  Funnily enough, I thought the chrome - well, stainless steel - door trims had been painted black when in actual fact they were just really, really mucky.


The bodywork has already been washed twice, so to find that this was lurking in the trims was a surprise.  This is bucket number two as well.


After some T-Cut and G3 action, I had most of the overspray off the panel.  This corner isn't too bad for it, and the lacquer looks nice and deep so I had plenty of material to work with.




Apart from a few tiny spots that I'll continue to work at by using G3 after the usual weekly wash, the rear quarter has cleaned up exceptionally well.  The door demonstrates just how much overspray there still is to come off, and it's on the glass too.  There's a fantastic looking car hiding underneath all this and all I have to do to find it is to put in some elbow grease.


Now that it's had a day to sit, the Autoglym treatment has settled out nicely on the roof to look less shiny, I'm really impressed with this.  Rear lights removed for cleaning.


Top has been broggled and cleaned but is awaiting a polish after drying out.  The bottom one has yet to be done.  All around the edge of the lens where it drains out excess water was blocked with algae and this, combined with seals that weren't working properly, had led to water ingress through the lights into the boot.


At the moment my focus really is on removing the overspray and fixing any faults that require time rather than money.  For a few weeks I'm cleared out so I'm pricing up parts and getting on with putting a plan together but I can't see it taking a lot to get this little car sorted out, it's far better than I expected in just about every way.